Snow White Runaway
by LoveGarden22
Summary: What if the man she met wasn't a prince (I mean, in the movie she just assumes he is and happens to be right)? What if Snow White was already planning to escape her step-mother? What if, when living with the dwarves, she helps in the mines? This the movie under those terms. Surprisingly rated K , considering how dark Snow white is. Don't forget to R R. No flames, please.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Show White by the Well

**A/N: in this story, I'm going to make Snow White have longer hair, since it was more appropriate for the time period. However, I'm going to make Snow more of an Alto and the Prince more of a Tenor. If you don't like it then you don't have to read it.**

_Snow White was young when Queen Grimhilde took over the kingdom. The cause of her mother and father's death was mysterious to her, but she didn't like how quickly the Queen took over afterward. After the Queen took over, she made her step-daughter act as a maid towards her. She stripped her of her Princess attire and forced her to wear rags, cook, and clean. _

_ Snow White, as I said, was very young and didn't know what else to do but follow the queen's orders. Even though the hard work was tiring, Snow White tried to stay positive.__"At least I'm learning new skills," she thought, "maybe one day they might come in handy if I want to leave this place." She smiled at the thought of leaving, "Maybe when I'm older I can run away and get a job as a maid, or an innkeeper." Sure it didn't change her current situation of work, but at least she would be free from her step-mother's clutches. "When the time is right, and when I'm ready..." she told herself._

_ Secretly, however, she was scared to leave. The castle had been the only place she'd ever known. She didn't know what the outside world would be like. She hoped in the back of her mind and the bottom of her heart, that someone would arrive to take her away. That way she wouldn't be alone. If someone like that ever did come, even if they didn't stay; she knew it would be a sign that it would be time to leave. _

_The only thing in the way was her step-mother. She noticed the girl's enchanting beauty when she took the throne. She had put her in rags and ordered her to do chores in hopes of removing that beauty, but Snow's beauty was never fading. In fact, it was quite the opposite and growing every day. The Queen decided to keep a close eye on her, and dispose of her if she had to. Yet, every day the mirror confirmed that she was the most beautiful. So she smiled, knowing that for now, things were right. "When the time is right, that is when she will die." The Queen told herself. Every day she would look down at Snow cleaning the courtyard singing her sad little song of how she wished someone would save her, and the Queen smiled. She was amused with her step-daughter's futile sense of hope._

* * *

Every year, the queen would receive a shipment of jewels for her wardrobe from the diamond mine. When the shipment was delivered by the young man, the queen would give him a small pouch of gold. However, as the queen got older and vainer she handed out less and less gold to the miners. When they complained, she offered them a new deal. They give her a shipment of jewels in return they could keep their lives. They knew they had to keep up with that offer, even if that meant they were no longer paid.

On the day Snow turned 14, the Queen asked the mirror yet again who was the fairest one of all, but this time the Mirror answered differently. "Yes my Queen, you are fair, this is true, but the young maiden Snow White is fairer than you." Said the mirror,

"What?!" gasped the Queen, the time had come. Then a messenger sounded for the queen, and she went to her throne room.

"Your majesty, your shipment of jewels is here." Said the messenger,

"Excellent," Said the Queen, "Send them in." The Queen sat in her throne as the messenger ran out to the front gate to let in the wagon full of jewels for the queen. The Queen watched as a young man she had never seen before entered the palace throne room.

"I have not seen you before." She said to the young man, "You must be new to this operation."

"Yes, my Queen." Answered the young man,

"Do you know, perhaps, the terms of the agreement the miners have with me?" asked the queen. The young man was hesitant. He gulped, and fixed his collar before answering.

"Yes, my Queen." He answered nervously,

"So I hope you do not expect any payment." She said,

"No, my Queen." He said,

"Good. Now, leave the jewels and be on your way." She said waving him out. He gave her a deep bow, and turned towards the door.

* * *

Upon exiting he heard a voice coming from within the courtyard.

"_I'm wishing (I'm wishing)_

_For the one I love_

_To find me (To find me)_

_Today (Today)_

_I'm hoping (I'm hoping)_

_And I'm dreaming of_

_The nice things (The nice things)_

_He'll say (he'll say)"_

The young man decided to climb over the wall to see who it was. He hoped he looked nice, considering how he was trespassing. He did dress in his best clothes to visit the queen, so he hoped he looked nice. So he used his horse to boost himself over the wall and climb over it.

On the other side was a servant girl dressed in rags singing by the well. He decided it would be fun if he joined in, so he crept over next to her as quietly as possible as she finished her song.

"_I'm wishing (I'm wishing)_

_For the one I love_

_To find me (To find me)_

_Today (Today)"_ he ended her song by added an almost harmonious final Tenor note to match her Alto, "_To-day..."_ She turned around to face him, her face filled with surprise and shock as she let out a brief high pitched shriek and backed away from him a few feet.

"Who are you?" she asked, still half frightened.

"My name is David." he told her, "What is your name?" he asked her,

"Snow White." She said quietly, he was a bit surprised. It couldn't be _the _Snow White. As in, the Princess; a princess would never wear rags or fetch water. Yet again, it would explain her beauty.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him nervously,

"I came to visit the Queen." He told her truthfully,

"Oh..." she said sadly, "Then I probably should not be talking to you." She added running back into the castle.

"Wait!" He called after her, "It's not like that!" but it was too late, she had already shut the door. He had to get a way for her to listen. She liked to sing...

He thought he would try to finish her song, maybe make it a duet. So he sang,

"_Now that I've found you, here's what I have to say..._

_ One Song...I have but one song..._

_ One song...only for you..." _ Snow White was impressed. Not only could he sing, but he was finishing _her_ song. Maybe this was her sign; maybe he would be the one to take her away. She walked out onto the balcony to see him, and listened to him sing.

"_One heart...tenderly beating..._

_Ever entreating...constant and true..."_

* * *

Meanwhile the Queen was looking down on the young man.. The man from before was singing to her step daughter. The Mirror was right; Snow was more beautiful than her. Someone had become enchanted with her, and if they were to marry they could take over the kingdom! She had to act quickly in removing Snow White from the problem.

However, what the Queen didn't know is that they were simply attracted to each other. When Snow sang of her love coming to find her in her song, she simply meant that she would be eternally grateful to anyone who would rid her of this castle. In David's song he wasn't singing about his love for Snow. He was singing about his attraction to her. He was simply matching the theme of the song Snow was singing earlier.

* * *

So as he sang,

"_One Love...that has possessed me..._

_One love... thrilling me through..." _Both Snow and David knew they didn't mean it, but the queen was fooled.

"_One song...my heart keeps singing..._

_Of One love...only for you."_ He finished. Snow White smiled down at him,

"I guess you're not seeing the queen?" she called down to him,

"No, I'm not." He called back, "Can you come down?"

Snow nodded and came back down to the court yard. "You're a good singer." She told him, "Did you make that song up?"

"Yes," He told her, "Did you make your song up?"

"Yes..." she told him, "but it was a while ago."

"I guess you've wanted to leave for some time now?" he asked her,

She nodded in response, "So why don't you?" he asked,

"I haven't left yet because I don't know what's outside." She sighed deeply, and then straightened herself, "But I'm going to be leaving tonight." She told him happily, "Do you want to help me?" she asked hesitantly.

"I don't know if I should..." he said slowly,

"That's okay." She told him, "I'll make it on my own. Maybe one day we'll see each other again." She said hopefully,

He smiled, and said, "I hope so as well."

For a moment, they just stared at each other and smiled. Then, David realized he should go. So, he bowed to the young maiden, and left. Snow White smiled as he climbed back over the wall. She was glad she got a chance to meet him. After her new friend was gone, she skipped back into the castle to finish her chores, unaware of the Queen glaring down at her.

* * *

**So that was the first chapter. You may have noticed it was a little different, you should know I put my own spin on it (it's a fan fiction, duh). However, if I got the parts out of order I am terribly sorry but I have not seen the movie since I was five and I hardly remember it. This should be blatantly obvious but since I am a girl and therefore not the brothers Grimm or Walt Disney (also because they're both dead) I do not own Snow White. Also, for those hardcore Disney fans out there, I know that it was officially stated that the prince's name is Ferdinand and to that I say: 1, it's never said in the movie; 2, if you might have noticed David might not be a prince; 3, I like David better. If you don't like it you don't have to read it. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Into the Woods,

**A/N: I might miss some things, but that's simply because I don't remember the movie that well. I do not own any of the characters.**

As Snow White continued to work on her chores, the Queen sent a messenger to fetch a huntsman for her. Later when he arrived, the Queen met him in her thrown room.

"Welcome," she told the huntsman.

"Your majesty," replied the huntsman bowing in response,

"You might be wondering why I summoned you here." She assumed,

"Yes, your highness." He said,

"I have an errand for you to run." She said, "I am going to send my daughter out of the castle today, and you are going to escort her." She told him, he nodded at the command,

"Take her far into the forest. Find some secluded glade, where she can pick wild flowers." She continued,

He nodded and replied, "Yes, your majesty."

"And there, my faithful huntsman, you will kill her!" the queen ordered.

The man grew wide eyed with shock, "But your majesty, the little princess!" he noted, not looking willing. The queen rose from her thrown with anger,

"Silence!" She ordered, "You know the penalty if you fail." She warned him, he lowered his arms and stepped backward,

"Yes, your majesty." He said defeated, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. He had no choice.

"But to make doubly sure, you _do not_ fail; bring back her heart, in this." She said handing him a box with a heart and dagger seal." The huntsman took the box reluctantly, and the queen called for her step-daughter.

Snow white was told that they had a guest, and to dress in her best clothes. Snow white found this odd considering how the queen had often ordered her to act as a servant towards all guests, and to never wear her best clothes. She went along with the charade to find out what her step-mother was up to.

When she made it down stairs in the nicest gown she owned, (which was still pretty modest), her step-mother greeted her.

"Snow white, you are to go out into the forest to pick wild flowers. I need them to decorate the palace for an event I will be holding later this week." The queen told her, Snow White nodded in response.

"Yes, step mother." She told her,

"This man, Frederick, will guide you through the forest and...Protect you from harm. The forest can be quite dangerous." The queen continued,

Snow glanced over at the man standing in the room. He was quite capable of protecting her, but Snow didn't see why she needed protecting, the forest wasn't _that_ dangerous. However, she did want to get out of the castle. Was her step-mother turning over a new leaf? Maybe, but she figured she should still try to be cautious. She thanked the queen and left with Fredrick out of the castle.

She rode with the man far into the forest. The walk was surprisingly very long, and she was curious why they waited so long to stop and pick flowers. She spotted many patches of them along the way. Snow knew something wasn't right.

When they finally made it to the meadow, Snow seemed to forget about her troubles at least a little bit. She loved being outdoors, instead of simply locked inside to scrub floors, or stuck in the kitchen behind a hot stove. The flowers were very pretty, and she was finally out of the castle. With the wind blowing in her long black hair she finally felt like she was free...at least temporarily.

The man kept his distance so she could pick flowers in peace, yet he stood off in the distance to keep an eye on her. The idea of him watching her was both creepy and reassuring. No matter how happy and at ease she felt she couldn't help but look over her shoulder every few minutes.

Otherwise, she seemed very giddy. She picked the flowers without a care in the world, happily humming the song her mystery man had sung earlier. It was a reminder, that even if her step-mother was trying to change, she would be escaping tonight.

While she was humming, she heard the chirping of a baby bird nearby. She spotted the bird and went over to help it.

"Shsh." She said trying to calm it, "There there, I won't hurt you."

With that, the baby bird hopped into her hands, "What's wrong? Are you lost? Well, the best way to not be lost is to go out and look." She told the little bird,

With that, the little bird perked up, "I'm sure you'll find your parents soon. Now, off you go." She lifted the bird up above her head, and the bird flew off. Snow White smiled, she was glad to help.

Then, she heard the sound of foot steps behind her, and saw a shadow eclipse her. She then realised that she had been distracted with the bird and forgot to check on Frederick. She turned around to check, and sure enough, he was right behind her with a knife and posed to strike.

She screamed at the sight, but then hoped she could talk her way out of it,

"The queen didn't order you to protect me, didn't she? She ordered you to kill me." The man didn't seem to answer, but his hand began to shake, and he dropped the knife and fell to his knees.

"Yes, she did." He sobbed, "But I can't do it! I can't kill you no matter what she says! You're too young, and I can't kill another human it wouldn't be right! Please, forgive me!" he pleaded; Snow white looked the man over again, in his weeping form. Truthfully, she pitied him. The queen must have threatened this man to get him to kill her, and he was so afraid, he had almost done it.

"I don't blame you." She told him, "I blame the queen. What can I do to help you." She asked him,

"There's nothing you can do, the queen will not be happy until you are dead. She ordered me to kill you, and bring her your heart."

"Wait, you're a hunter, right?" she asked him,

The man stopped crying and straightened, "Yes," he told her,

"Well, the queen won't be seeing my body, so why don't you bring her another heart instead. There's no way she'll know it isn't mine." She suggested,

He stood up, and seemed relieved, "Yes, you're right. That's what I'll do. Thank you. I'll cut out the heart of a pig to give to her, and in the meantime, you should run away so the queen will never find you again."

"Yes, of course." Replied Snow White; This had been her plan all along, now it was just moved up a little.

"Are you going to be okay? Are you sure there isn't anything more I can do?" she asked him,

"No, I'll be fine. Now go." he told her, and with those words, she ran off into the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A place to stay,

**A/N: For any of those who do not know, I don't own any of the characters.**

Snow ran for a while, but once she was deep enough into the forest she got tired and slowed down a little. She walked at a slow pace, absent mindedly pushing tree branches out of her way and walking through tall grass. She occasionally would walk through some shade to cool herself from the midday sun, but she kept moving forward.

She wasn't scared. She had heard of hunters who came from the woods, and their many tales of the hunt. She knew there were no animals that would cause her any harm while she was there, as long as she left them alone. The trees occasionally grabbed at her clothing, but she would simply pull it away out of their grasp. If anything, she was nervous. She hadn't thought this through.

She had lived in the palace her entire life. Of course, she was a servant so that gave her a little credibility, but she had no idea where she was going. She was lost. "Maybe I should've asked the huntsman for directions?" she wondered as she walked deeper and deeper.

She didn't know if she'd find a town before sunset, or if she even could with the queen after her. She started considering what to do if she had to camp out. She had never slept outside before. She was worried that maybe all the carnivorous animals came out at night. Where would she sleep? She supposed she could sleep in a tree. Sleeping in a tree might be a little unorthodox, but if she could climb to a high branch she could stay out of the reach of predators. Of course, no one was around to see if her skirt hiked up.

What if it rained? Then she might have to sleep in a hollow tree after all. If it rained she couldn't make a fire. She at least knew how to do that. When she was working in the palace kitchen she had to often light the palace stove. She also knew how to find food. Working in the kitchen and the garden provided her with the knowledge of what berries were safe to eat and what foods would be best to lure rabbits into traps.

If she had the heart or stomach to kill one was the question. After seeing the chefs in the kitchen butcher so many animals, she was sure she knew how. However, the process had made her want to become vegetarian. Seeing the occasional dead rabbit in the garden trap had almost made her vomit.

She decided to save hunting for a last resort endeavor. Right now she had to try to find a town, and her natural compass wasn't helping her much. She sat down for a moment to process her situation. She realized that she could never go home; to the place she lived her entire life. The queen wanted her dead. It was no surprise that the queen didn't like her, but she never knew the queen would go as far as to kill her. It defiantly not against her nature.

She decided to pick herself up and keep moving forward, sitting around wasn't going to accomplish anything. She noticed another clearing up ahead, and she walked towards it through the bushes and the trees. Once she made it through she saw a small cottage.

"Maybe someone is home and can direct me to the nearest town?" she thought to herself, and she went over to knock on the door. She knocked once, there was no answer. She knocked again, even harder, and this time the door opened. She knew she really shouldn't enter someone's home unannounced, but she was curious what was inside, and went in.

Once inside, she noticed the area wasn't particularly clean. She went upstairs and examined the bedroom, and she found seven small beds. "Children, perhaps? Maybe, orphans? Like me... maybe they might let me hide out with them for awhile?" she thought, "I should probably leave, I would be giving off a bad impression if I broke into their house."

But before she could go she found herself starting to drift to sleep. She was really tired from travelling all day without stopping after the stress of almost being killed by a hunter. As she grew more and more tired, she found the beds becoming softer and softer, and the gravity getting stronger and stronger. She knew she shouldn't intrude, but she figured a quick nap couldn't hurt, and it was getting late. Maybe, just maybe, she could rest there...just for a little while.

**A/N: Wow that was really short. Don't worry; I'll right more in the next chapter. Sorry I took so long to update, I'm just really busy now that I'm in grade twelve.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: The Dwarves,

When Snow awoke, she was surrounded by many short faces. She soon discovered that the home didn't belong to children, but instead little men; seven little men to be exact. The house belonged to seven dwarves.

It turned out that the dwarves were a part of the mining community, and they had just come home from a long day of unpaid work. They had come back to the house to notice that the door was a jar. The stepped inside and noticed everything was as it was, but across the dusty floor were footprints that lead upstairs. They followed to the bed room and found the young girl.

Snow was particularly taller than the men, despite her age, and took up more than one bed. When she woke from her sleep and saw them, she was a little shocked. It was rather scandalous for a girl of her age to be alone with one man, let alone seven. She knew she was intruding, so she immediately began to apologize.

"I'm sorry, I should never have entered. I was just going to wait outside for your return, but it was getting dark you see, and I was afraid of becoming prey to a hungry bear or wolf. So, then I was simply going to wait inside for you to come home, and leave as soon as you got here, but I found myself looking around. When I found the bedroom my fatigue overtook me, and I couldn't help but fall asleep, even though I knew I shouldn't. Now that you are home, and I have obviously disturbed you by my presence, I will go now, if you could just point me to the nearest town where I could stay the night." Snow White muttered as she stumbled to get up, "Then I will be on my way, and I'll never bother you again." She said curtseying in apology.

The dwarves looked her over, and noticed how scared the little girl was. The bottom of her dress was in tatters and her arms were covered in scratches from running through brambles. Her face looked flushed, but otherwise it looked like she hadn't seen much sun in her life. She looked thin and boney, like hadn't eaten much, and she was covered in dirt. She was probably running away from a tormenter of some kind. They couldn't send her back outside to the mercy of the wolves.

"You're right," the head dwarf said, and for a moment Snow White looked shocked, but then she nodded politely.

"It is getting late," Another Dwarf said, "and the nearest town isn't for miles." Snow looked a little heartbroken, but she remained polite.

"I'm sure I'll manage." She said, "Now which direction is it in." She asked,

The head dwarf shook his head, "There is a town a few days east from here, but how about you stay the night. We head off to work in that direction anyway, we can always give you a ride tomorrow." He suggested.

Snow looked a little unsure. She hardly knew these men, she wasn't sure if she could trust them. Yet, their plan sounded better than hers, which would most likely get her killed. So after a moment of consideration, she nodded.

"If I'm going to stay here, even if it's only for a night, I'm going to need to know your names." She told them, the dwarves looked at each other for a moment in confusion. "We don't know..." said the head dwarf.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'?" Snow asked,

"We only use our names at work." A quiet dwarf explained, "At home, we don't say...so if anyone comes looking, they can't find us."

"That's okay; someone's looking for me too. I understand. I need to have something to call all of you though. Do you have any nicknames?" She asked them,

"Yes we do," said the head dwarf, "I'm Doc,"

"The shy one is Bashful..."

"The optimistic one is happy..."

"The one passed out on the floor is sleepy..."

"The one with the handkerchief is sneezy..."

"The scowling one is Grumpy. Don't mind him..."

"And then there's Dopey, he doesn't talk." Doc said, "What shall we call you?" he asked, and Snow had to think about it for a moment.

She had a famous name, but no one had seen her in many years. These dwarves didn't recognize her as the Princess. She was named at birth based on her appearance, for she was as 'white as snow'. Now she could be called, "Scratchy" or "Hag" for dishevelled appearance. These dwarfs had names based off their personalities. This could be her chance to branch out. She thought about herself, and what her personality was like.

She had to go off of her own intuition, for she had no one to talk to for all those years except the birds and her step-mother, he didn't like her presence and was insistent on insulting her. She guessed she could be called 'Kindness', for she was kind, but that wasn't really a name. She thought back to her previous conversations; the one with David, and the one with the Huntsman. She knew what name would be a good one for her. "You can call me, Hope." She told them.

**A/N: I told you I would write more. So that's the end of this chapter. I wonder if I chose the right fake name for Snow White. You may have noticed, but I'm adding a sense of political correctness to this. I just didn't like how stupid, rude, and pushy Snow White was in the original. So I made her a little smarter. I hope that's okay.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A night with the dwarves,

Snow decided to thank the dwarves for letting her stay with them, for just a night. So, she treated them with one of the recipes that she had made at the palace once. Of course, at the palace she had had more ingredients to work with, but she still could make quite a lot with what she was given.

She had taken the dry ingredients, and made some tasty rolls, and then with some rabbit and apples she made a very tasty stew. They were grateful for her to do the cooking, so they agreed to tidy themselves up a bit before dinner. She tried to tell them that it was no big deal, she was used to cooking and it was the least she could do for them since she was staying with them.

So they sat around the table and had a very nice dinner. The dwarves had even said that it was the best meal that she had ever eaten.

"This is delicious!" Said Happy, while dopey nodded with enthusiasm.

"Oh, there was nothing to it really." She said off-headedly, "There are really two tricks when it comes to cooking, you got to have the right amount of balance in your ingredients, and the right spices always save the day." She told them,

"You don't say?" Said Doc, with keen interest.

"Well, it's better than what we usually have." Grumpy said, and they all looked at him, "Soup that tastes like peppery water." He said scowling,

Snow giggled at the comment; at least Grumpy was trying to be nice.

After dinner was over Snow gathered up the plates to be washed,

"You don't have to do that." Bashful said,

"I certainly think I do. I have to repay you for your kindness somehow." She told him, the whispered amongst them. They decided that this girl was really nice, a little too nice. First she apologizes for barging into their house, and then she does all the cooking and cleaning when they tell her she can stay. She was acting more like the host than they were. They decided they had to make it up to her (except for grumpy, who was accepting of this new girl's behaviour).

When Snow was in the middle of doing the dishes the Dwarves called her over, "Hope, we have something to show you." Called Doc,

"Can it wait? I'm in the middle of doing the dishes." She told him, Doc came over and grabbed her hand pulling her away from the work. "The rest of us can finish those later. You've been doing so much work, we decided to repay you." He pulled her over to the rest of them, where they stood in a group. They shoved Bashful forward, and he blushed while handing her a satchel.

She took the satchel cautiously, wondering what they could have given her. She assumed that they were going to give her some food for her journey to the village after they had shown her the way, or maybe a small wooden sculpture, or a flute. She didn't think the dwarves could give her much, considering that they lived in a cottage in a wood.

She finally opened the satchel to find something that was beyond her expectations. It turned out that these dwarves were richer than she thought. Inside the bag were a few precious gems.

"Where did you manage to get these?" she asked with astonishment,

"We work in the mine, so we find these stones all the time. Sure, the queen gets most of the gems, but since we don't get paid for our work we think it's okay if we smuggle a few every so often." Doc explained,

"Gosh...this is too much. You are already leading me towards the next town and letting me spend the night with you. I can't accept these. You probably don't have that many to spare." Snow told them,

"Nonsense, we can always find more. Besides, you are doing all the work a servant would do, you should be paid. Also, a nice girl like you will need some gems to get a life started where you are going." Happy explained,

Just like that, Snow felt so happy that these people were being so nice to her, and she had nothing to give in return...except maybe...well, she ran forward, kissed all of them on the forehead, even Grumpy, thanking them a hundred times over.

Soon after that she returned to the dishes, even they told her not to. She had done dusting, cooking, and she had washed the dishes that day. The Dwarves were starting to wonder if she really was a runaway servant. When she was finished, she was exhausted. She offered to take the floor since she had already slept in their beds. However, the dwarves insisted that she take the bed since she was the guest. They did not mind sleeping on the floor for just one night. Grumpy however had no trouble complaining about being made to sleep on the floor.

That night, Snow had good dreams. She had dreams where her step mother was far away, and she was only surrounded by good people. Good people like the dwarves she had met that day.

**A/N: I swear it's going to get interesting soon, try to be patient.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Trip into town,

The next morning after Snow awoke; she was surprised to see that all of the dwarves were already awake. They were equally surprised to see that she was awake. "Hope! We, uh...we were just going to wake you." Doc told her,

"We didn't expect you to be up for another few hours." Said Grumpy,

"Isn't it sunrise?" she asked them, they all nodded harmoniously.

"I usually get up around this time. I actually thought that I'd be up before all of you." She admitted,

"Well, we have to get up early if we want to make it to the mines on time." Happy explained,

"I guess that makes sense. Since we're all awake, I guess I can make you all breakfast." Snow replied,

"No, no, Hope, that's too much trouble. You're our guest; you're doing too much for us."

"Nonsense, it's nothing I'm not used to. Besides, you've got to prepare so you can give me a ride into town, so this helps me out too." She explained. The seven dwarves wanted to argue, but they knew she wasn't going to budge from where she stood, so they allowed her to make breakfast for them. They didn't mind that she helped out; she was a much better cook than them.

So while the dwarves grabbed their pickaxes and their sacks, Snow made the group some fresh bread for breakfast. By the time the sun had risen the bread was ready to be eaten. The group all washed themselves and sat down to enjoy another masterpiece.

"You did it again Hope. I never thought Bread could taste this good!" Happy exclaimed, Snow shook her head and smiled,

"You men act as though I can work miracles. It's just bread." She told them,

"It's a miracle to us." Doc explained, "We almost don't want you to leave."

"I've enjoyed staying here with you as well, but I really mustn't stay. If I don't, I'm sure to be found." Snow insisted,

"If that is the way it must be." Sighed sleepy, and Bashful hid his face and Dopey looked like he was about to cry. Snow, upon seeing their sad faces, felt like crying too. She knew she had to leave though, where else could she hide but in plain sight.

So after breakfast, the group got ready to go. Snow grabbed her bag of jewels and followed the dwarves out. They offered to give her a ride, but she refused. If she borrowed anything of theirs, she would never be able to repay them. So they walked.

They walked a long ways. They walked through the forests, through the mountains, and towards the mines. Once they reached the mines, they offered to split up. Doc and the rest of the dwarves would go into the mines and start work, while Happy took her into town.

Snow on the other hand, was getting a little tired. She had walked farther than she ever had before, and she wanted a moment's rest. She was starting to feel a little bit like Sleepy. Grumpy was suggesting that she walk to town on her own, but she didn't know the way.

Unfortunately, none of those things were going to happen just yet, because suddenly they heard the galloping of horses nearby.

"Oh no, the royal guards!" Snow said nervously,

"How do you know?" asked Bashful,

"It's just a hunch." She replied wringing her hands. The dwarves looked around nervously, and then Doc shouted, "Hope, quick, inside!" She looked towards the entrance of the mines nervously.

"The mines?" she asked,

"Yeah, the mines, now get in!" Grumpy shouted. Suddenly, Dopey grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. They ran deep within the cave and hide behind some rocks and mine carts. Snow could hear the horses stop outside the cave; the sound of the conversation echoing throughout it.

"We are looking for a young girl from the palace." Said one of the men,

"You are, eh?" Happy replied,

"Yes, she has dark hair, pale skin, and we think she came in this direction." They explained,

"You don't say, what makes you think that?" Grumpy asked,

"She's the Princess, and she's run away from home. We assume that she'd want to get as far from the palace as possible." Another explained,

"Well, you assumed wrong then, didn't you?" Said Grumpy, there was a silence between the groups.

"We have come to take her back to the palace to see the Queen. We would hate to bring one of you to see the Queen instead." He explained,

"Listen, good sir, we have only just arrived and opened the mines, no one is in there to our better knowledge." Said Doc, "But, we'll be sure to let you know if anyone turns up." There was another silence that filled the air, until the guards accepted the answer.

"Alright, we will be back to see if she turns up here. Until then we will be staying in the next town to search. You men take care now." He said, and all the guards galloped off. Snow did not dare to exit the cave until she was sure they were all gone. All the other dwarves ventured inside to meet them.

"Do you still want to go to the next town...Princess?" Grumpy said slowly,

"Actually...I think I'll stay with you guys a little longer." Snow admitted, and the dwarves smiled at her answer.

"We were hoping you'd say that." And with that answer, all eight of them ventured further into the mines.

**A/N: So now the guards are looking for her, probably because the queen's too lazy to trek that far. Also, she'll be living with the Dwarves like she did in the originally story. They also know she's the princess now. It took them longer to figure it out in this version, but it doesn't change things for them. To them, she's still Hope.**


End file.
